


Surprise Birthday Cake

by sacredsymbol821



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: F/M, Family Fluff, birthday fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-30
Updated: 2016-06-30
Packaged: 2018-07-19 04:24:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7344820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sacredsymbol821/pseuds/sacredsymbol821
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Keida, Forrest and Kana attempt to make Leo a birthday cake.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Surprise Birthday Cake

Keida sighed in frustration, running her fingers through her hair in a futile attempt to keep it in place before looking at the mess that was on the kitchen table. 

She had procured the cake mix from the market earlier in the day, just managing to evade her older son in the process, and had taken backstreets to get into the mess hall without anyone bothering her.

Now that she was here, however, she realized she was going to need some help- and a lot of it. The cake mix was too big for her to stir by herself, and six eggs was way too many for one person- which the cake had been intended for.

She wondered if Forrest and Kana had gotten back from the market yet. Belatedly, she wondered if Leo was out of his meeting with Xander, Ryoma, and Takumi. If so, she had even less time than originally planned.

She took a deep breath in before stretching her neck exaggeratedly. At that moment, the doorknob turned and she automatically jumped in front of the table to hide it from view.

A boy in a pink beret popped his head into the room.

“Mother! Azura said that you had gone into the mess hall. I needed to speak with you.” He spoke quickly.

“Am I in trouble?” She asked, leaning backwards against the table.

“On the contrary, I’m concerned.” Forrest replied, a small frown on his face.

“C-concerned?” Keida questioned.

“At the market earlier, you seemed quite harried.” Forrest explained.

“So you followed me back to the Castle?”

“I was wondering why you were being so secretive, mother. I’m sorry I acted rashly.” Forrest bowed his head.

Keida fought back a giggle.

“I forgive you. However, since you’re here, would you mind helping me with something?”

“What is it?” Forrest asked.

“Here.” Keida said, moving away from the table.

“You’re making a cake? My, that’s a lot of eggs. Mother, when did you learn how to bake?” Forrest said rapidly, lips moving so fast that when he had finished talking, Keida needed a few moments to register what her son had spoken.

“I’ve been baking with Felicia ever since I was small. I never considered it a skill, because I never had time to do it regularly.” She admitted, putting her head behind her head as her son studied her intently.

“You don’t consider it a skill, yet you’re making a cake from scratch?” Forrest asked her incredulously.

“It’s the best I can do on short notice.” Keida grinned sheepishly.

“I suppose you need help making the cake, but two of us still seems to small for this task.” Forrest frowned thoughtfully.

“Siegbert is unfortunately, still attending his math class at the moment. I wouldn’t want to bother Ophelia or Nina, as they’re both busy with their own tasks. Aha! Mother, have you seen Kana?”

“I thought he was in the market with you and Ophelia.” Keida told him truthfully.

Forrest shook his head.

“Unfortunately, Kana declined to go to the market with us today because Kiragi invited him to play hide and go seek.” 

“That’s a relief.” 

“Shall I go look for him?”

“That would help immensely.” Keida nodded, turning back toward the table.

She heard Forrest leave the room before she went scrounging around for the flour she needed, and unceremoniously dumped it on the table before Forrest returned quicker than she had expected, along with his brother.

“I got very lucky, and Kana happened to be just outside the mess hall.” Forrest explained quickly.

“Hi Momma!” Kana grinned widely.

“Hi, kid. Are you going to help Forrest and I bake a cake?” She asked him, bending down to tussle his already spiked up hair.

“Why are you baking a cake?” Kana asked.

“It’s your fathers birthday, and I figured I would do something special for him.” She told the boy quickly.

“Okay, let’s get started!” Kana said, and without another word ran to the other end of the table.

“Shall I beat the eggs, then?” Forrest asked, taking off the gloves he wore as he approached the table as well.

“Can I help?” Kana appeared at his brothers side, looking up at him expectantly.

“Of course you may. Can you please get the whisk on the counter?” Forrest pointed.

Kana quickly retrieved it exactly where Forrest had said it would be.

As the eggs were being beaten, Keida was busy putting ingredients in the bowl to prepare for the mixing she had to do later on. Unfortunately, she accidentally put the flour in with too much strength, and a cloud of flour puffed into the air, which caused her two sons to look over at her and laugh as her face was suddenly paler than they were used too.

“Do you need help, Mother?” Forrest asked in between laughing.

“I got it. Just put too much force into throwing the flour in.” She waved a hand dismissively at both of her sons, causing them to laugh harder.

The cake was soon in the oven. As they were cleaning up the mess they had made with the ingredients, Kana accidentally hit Forrest in the face with the rag he had been cleaning up, making him the second person to have a pale face.

Keida tried to keep a straight face, but she ended up laughing at her son the way he had earlier.

They finished up in the kitchen, and waited for the cake to finish baking.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Leo was not used to being at the table by himself. Keida was usually at the table before him, prepared with some remark about how he was late to dinner when he always made it a point to arrive a few minutes early, despite how much work he had.

It was too quiet in the mess hall, as the only people there were Xander, Hinoka, and Siegbert, who was talking quietly to his parents.

Even if Leo had wanted to, the boy was talking so low that he couldn’t listen in on his conversation. His fingers drummed Brynhildr idly. Since no one was at his table, he had put the tome on the table until his family arrived.

Something about the grooved edges on the book calmed his nerves. He was used to having his family around him talking about their daily adventures. One of them being late was enough to make him feel a little anxious, but he understood they all had busy schedules. It was another thing entirely when your entire family was gone way later than they should have been.

“Leo!” A voice interrupted his thoughts, and his head snapped toward the source of the sound faster than he would like to admit.

Keida was standing in front of him, and she looked like she’d just taken a bath. Before he could say anything, however, she sat in the place next to him.

“I’m sorry I’m late. I got caught up doing something with the kids.”

Leo narrowed his eyes at her.

“Something?” He questioned.

“Yes, something. You’ll find out soon enough.” She told him cryptically, and did not answer any of his other questions on the subject until Forrest and Kana arrived.

“Good evening, Father.” Forrest nodded toward his father as Kana smiled up at him.

“What have you two been doing today?” He questioned them.

Kana continued to grin up at his father with puppy dog eyes. Forrest, however, managed to answer his father.

“I went to market for a while, as I needed more spool and thread. Then I came back to the castle and went to the healers tent for a while. Unfortunately, it was very busy today, as everyone had one injury after another.” The boy said calmly. 

Leo could never tell if his son was lying or not. After a few minutes of staring at him, he turned his gaze to his younger son, who was more bouncy than he usually was.

When he turned towards his wife, he saw that she had disappeared again. His gaze went immediately back to his children. 

Forrest opened his mouth to say something when everyone at the table smelled a fragrant aroma.

“I have to apologize for all the subterfuge, but I forgot the cake.” Keida said shaking her head. There was an obnoxious smile on her face as she placed it on the table.

Leo stared at her for a very long time.

“I hope it’s alright, Father, but we made you a cake for your birthday.” Forrest said to fill the silence.

If Leo had known what to say before, he did not know what to say now.

“How did you do this?” He managed to say.

“I went to the market and bought some cakemix.” She answered simply.

“That’s not what I meant.” Leo frowned.

“We just wanted to do something special for your birthday. That’s all.” She replied, putting her hands out defensively.

“I don’t know what to say.” He said as he felt heat on his face suddenly.

“What about Thank You?” Kana suggested.

“Thank You for the cake.” Leo managed to say, and the whole family grinned at him.

The cake was delicious, just as he thought it would be. 

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it!


End file.
